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Operation Hunt the Hunter: Anonymous targets 'revenge porn' man

The unidentifiable in pursuit of the unpalatable

Hacktivist collective Anonymous has set its sights on the former owner of a "revenge porn" website.

Hunter Moore gained internet infamy by posting sexually revealing images of men and women without their permission, alongside links to their social networking profiles. The images were normally submitted by aggrieved ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends. Victims who requested the removal of images were further ridiculed. Legal threats were routinely ignored: however in the end Moore's website IsAnyoneUp.com was sold to an anti-bullying charity.

Moore's fresh plans to relaunch a similar site have provoked the ire of elements of Anonymous. Putative plans to post victims' home addresses, since denied by Moore, only served to further inflame the controversy.

Anonymous characterised Moore as a bully and facilitator of abuse who would be held "accountable for his actions".

"We will protect anyone who is victimised by abuse of our internet, we will prevent the stalking, rape, and possible murders as by-product of his sites," the group said.

"Operation anti-bully. Operation hunt Hunter engaged. We are Anonymous, we are legion, we do not forgive, we do not forget, Hunter Moore, expect us," it added.

A video by Anonymous featured Amanda Todd, 15, who took her own life after being bullied following the publication of topless pictures of her on the net. Todd was not featured on Moore's website.

Anonymous published personal details about Moore online, including his home address and the names of family members, the BBC reports.

IsAnyoneUp.com reportedly pulled in $20,000 in advertising revenue a month prior to the sale. Moore blamed the media for distorting his original vision, promising that his new site would be "very scary but yet fun".

"I am creating something that will question if you ever want to have kids," he boasted.

Moore told tech site Betabeat that his new venture would "introduce the mapping stuff so you can stalk people" a statement he retracted in subsequent interviews, claiming it was only a drunken boast. ®